When We Were Kings

Composite Score: 85.9

Featuring: Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Don King, James Brown, B.B. King, Mobutu Sese Seko, Spike Lee, Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, Thomas Hauser, and Malick Bowens

Director: Leon Gast

Genres: Documentary, Sport, History, Biography

MPAA Rating: PG for images of violence, brief nudity, and some language

Box Office: $2.79 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                When We Were Kings is the 1996 documentary looking back on the “Rumble in the Jungle” more than twenty years later. It examines the juxtaposition of Ali and Foreman in the minds of American fans, African fans, and sports writers through interviews with members of each group. It also includes extensive archival footage of the lead-up to the fight, primarily of Ali and his entourage, but also of Foreman and his. It explores the complications of holding the fight in Zaire and the attitudes of all involved. The film swept just about every Best Documentary award that year, including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature film and continues to be recognized as one of the best boxing and sport documentaries of all time for the way that it focuses not only on the fight and the fighters but on the culture that built to the fight.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                No film is unbiased. From biopics to documentaries to romantic comedies to fantasy epics to intimate dramas, every film has some point that it’s trying to make or some slant that it’s trying to sell, so if you come to a sports documentary looking to get a pure reporting of the facts, then you’re going to be sorely disappointed. This film roots for Muhammad Ali throughout, painting George Foreman as the out-of-touch American who’s just there to get paid and box and has given very little thought to the cultural and political implications of the event that he’s about to participate in. Ali, on the other hand, gets a hero’s treatment with every aspect of the film building his legend even more than it already has been, stitching together his own pontifications with ruminations on his greatness and impact by filmmaker Spike Lee, artist Malick Bowens, biographer Thomas Hauser, and sportswriters Norman Mailer and George Plimpton. It’s not so much a smear campaign against Foreman as it is a puff piece on Ali, which does make for an entertaining film, if a bit light.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                Biases aside, what the film does well is build the legend of Muhammad Ali. Even with no outside interviews and just a presentation of archive footage with some contextualizing slides, When We Were Kings could have accomplished that goal because of how immensely charismatic and capable Ali was at the time of the “Rumble”. From his first press conference to his arrival in Zaire to his handling of the delay due to Foreman’s injury to his eventual handling of strategy in the bout itself, every aspect of what Ali does in this film is impressive for both an athlete and a celebrity. He handles the media attention wonderfully, taking every opportunity to take shots at his opponent while building up his fan base, both locally and back home. His strategy of practicing taking hits and building endurance in every part of his body feels almost prescient in hindsight, something that contributed greatly to his success. Then, when you add in social and sport commentary from experts and big names, you cement the awesomeness that the audience has witnessed and execute not just a great documentary, but a great boxing film that’s up there with the Rocky films in terms of excitement and character iconography.

                Muhammad Ali’s entire persona makes When We Were Kings an excellent film, but it’s the building around his story and the events of the “Rumble in the Jungle” that Leon Gast pulls off that elevate it to legend-making status and a film worthy of a spot among the greats. While it features both boxers, don’t expect a film whose poster is a close-up on Muhammad Ali to pitch a both-sides narrative, and you should come away with the right idea about the film. You can currently stream this film on Max if you’re interested in checking it out.